The Current Employment Statistics (CES) program produces detailed industry estimates of employment, hours, and earnings of workers on nonfarm payrolls. CES State and Metro Area produces data for all 50 States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and about 450 metropolitan areas and divisions. CES National Estimates produces estimates for the nation.

Due to a data processing error, data for CES State and Area estimates were incorrectly published in the database and have now been corrected on August 18, 2017. A detailed list of corrections is available at https://www.bls.gov/bls/errata/sae_errata.htm

Jobless rates were lower in December than a year earlier in 314 of the 388 metropolitan areas,
higher in 61, and unchanged in 13. Nonfarm payroll employment was up in 316 metropolitan areas
over the year, down in 60, and unchanged in 12.
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In December, unemployment rates were lower in 6 states
and the District of Columbia, higher in 1 state, and
stable in 43 states. Nonfarm payroll employment increased
in 10 states, decreased in 3 states, and was essentially
unchanged in 37 states and the District.
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Effective with the release of the January 2017 data on March 13, 2017, CES State and Area began publishing improved sample variance estimates through the use of Generalized Variance Functions. Current measures of variance can be found at www.bls.gov/sae/790stderr.htm.

BLS recently discovered errors in metropolitan area and division hours and earnings series. Data for the affected series have been suppressed from October 2012 through November 2016. A detailed list of the suppressions is available at www.bls.gov/sae/saesup2016.htm.

Recently, the Current Employment Statistics program celebrated its 100th birthday with a symposium. Click here to watch Alan Greenspan, Jared Bernstein, and Kevin Hassett discuss one of the world's most-watched economic datasets.

The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS), used by BLS and other statistical agencies to classify industry statistics, is periodically revised. The next NAICS revision is scheduled for 2017. A notice was published in the Federal Register on August 4, 2015, to describe the proposed 2017 changes to NAICS and to invite public comment. Additional information about the use of NAICS at BLS is available at the Bureau's NAICS webpage.

The Joint Explanatory Statement that accompanied the Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2015, included language directing the BLS to conduct a review of the methodology used in the collection and reporting of CES survey data for Metropolitan Statistical Areas. The BLS response to Congress is available at www.bls.gov/sae/cesreport.htm

Effective with the publication of July 2014 first preliminary estimates on August 18, 2014, the Current Employment Statistics (CES) program started implementing new sample units into production on a quarterly basis. More information about the CES quarterly sample implementation is available at www.bls.gov/ces/cesqsi.htm.

CES State and Area estimates began using 2013 Office of Management and Budget (OMB) area definitions with
the release of the 2014 benchmark in March 2015.

Effective with the March 17, 2015 release of January 2015 data, the Current Employment Statistics (CES) State and Area survey transitioned from using X 12 ARIMA to X 13 ARIMA SEATS to produce seasonally adjusted series and forecasts of birth/death residuals. For more information about X 13 ARIMA SEATS please visit the U.S. Census Bureau website at https://www.census.gov/srd/www/x13as/.

Local Area Unemployment Statistics--monthly and annual employment, unemployment, and labor force data for Census regions and divisions, States, counties, metropolitan areas, and many cities, by place of residence.

Other Useful Links

CES State and Area Contacts

Further information may be obtained by contacting the Current
Employment Statistics State and Area program via email
or calling (202)691-6559 from
8:30 am through 4:30 pm Eastern Time Monday through Friday.

The cooperating State Employment Security Administrations (SESAs) have labor market
information offices which publish and disseminate CES data for their
State.